Alfegenia-Inline
by Hitsiyou-san
Summary: (SAO)Sword Art Online — (FOZ)Familiar of Zero-Crossover Was this supposed to be their destiny? Will it be over just like that? Or will they somehow find a way out? Proceed to find out. This is more than just a story about a young couple, Kirito and Asuna as they face dangers and enjoy their youth as they go.( R18 scenes will not be rare)
1. Prologue

"Pain... Funny, I thought I would get used to it by now."

A weak, trembling voice of a young man filled the silent hospital room. To be more precise, it was the intensive care unit of the hospital which he had been accepted some time ago...

"Come to think of it, how long has it been since I've been here?" His tired voice reverberated inside, talking to no one in particular...

The voice belonged to none other than one Kirigaya Kazuto, or Kirito for short which he adopted from his old SAO character, using it in real life thanks to one persistent former second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood back in SAO who was adamant in calling him 'Kirito-kun', even in real world...

Oh how he missed her calling him that with his own 'real' ears... The full-dive just wasn't enough to perfectly produce her real voice, but nevertheless, full-dive was everything to him now... So it was only natural for him to all the more dedicate himself to VR...

It didn't bother him in the slightest when his confident and boyish voice once full of life was long gone and his complexion, even worse — white as a sheet was not enough to describe it— and the dark circles under his eyes... Not to mention his once black unruly hair; all gone.

And the reason for all of this? Terminal cancer.

He learned that it was too late on the day that he was diagnosed as colon cancer, the most common cancer among males in Japan and therefore strictly regulated by the government.

If he had not been shy about the symptoms early on, the cancer could be cured in it's early stages with a high success rate, but he just didn't see the reason to, he even kept it from Asuna until the symptoms became that much evident.

While many people around him were none the wiser, Asuna surely knew something was wrong with him for a while. He seemed to be tired all the time, spacing out a lot...

It wasn't that obvious, Kirito managed to hide it well, but when he was in his comfort zone, in other words, when he was with Asuna and Yui in their home in the 22'nd floor of Aincrad, he sometimes acted odd. He even fainted one time when they were shopping for clothes for Rika for her birthday, making Asuna worried enough to make her insist for him to see a doctor immediately on multiple occasions, which he refused, reassuring her that everything was fine, that "he was just playing too much games."

He didn't know exactly why he would say something like that. Even though he had promised Asuna that he would be truthful to her... Perhaps it was because he was just that much worried about making her worry. Because if he told her, then she would definitely become anxious... He didn't want to see her like that ever again, even for a brief moment... Not after what happened with the Ordinal Scale a year ago...

And then there was the the undeniable truth that he didn't consider himself to be in anyway weak. He never expected to be defeated by a disease of all things... He had beaten far too many formidable enemies in the past to acknowledge a 'thing' such as cancer as a threat, until that day that is...

When Asuna just couldn't put up with his 'bullshit' anymore right after he had another episode where he fainted right next to her as they were on a trip... So, despite his protests after regaining his consciousness, she forcefully took him to the hospital with his bike which he had taught her how to ride in their spare time.

Later in the local hospital, after they'd did the necessary tests, the PET-scan revealed a much dreaded result. There were multiple metastasis all over the abdomen. The liver and the surrounding lymph nodes all showed increased activity in certain parts which suggested a very real possibility about the malignancy of a tumor originating from the distal colon.

* * *

What the doctor was saying about the chemotherapy choices was irrelevant to Asuna as she was sitting there, devastated, all the while holding both her hands to her mouth, neither her silent tears nor her terrified face were enough to express her misery that she was feeling at learning the terrible truth.

Kirito just sat in disbelief after hearing what the doctor just said. He — was cancer? He couldn't be... How? Why?

They didn't know just how they had left the hospital that evening. It was a nightmare... It has to be!

Asuna was blaming herself on their ride back to Kirito's house. She was cursing herself for not being persistant enough to take her Kirito-kun to the hospital sooner while Kirito just held onto Asuna from behind like a lost lamb...

The doctor's voice was completely etched inside Asuna's head, playing again and again, "Even if the cancer was fully treated, I'm really sorry to say, due to the cancer's prognose, he has very little chance to live past five years, but I as a doctor assure you that I will do whatever I can to..."

Behind her, she could feel Kirito's body slightly trembling... His cold, shaking hands that held onto her as if she was his lifeboat along with his silence, only worked to further her determination and strengthen her resolve;

[I will save him! My Kirito-kun... I will protect you, just like I promised that time, just you wait!]

Asuna at that time had no idea what that resolve would cause and what tragedies it would bring. She only had one thing in her mind at the time, "Kirito-kun, I will definitely save you!"


	2. The Transition-Part-1

"Oh no! I-I'm sorry! Yui-chan... No! Why? Why did I even agree to this? Because of my selfishness, not to mention stupidity, she is now gone! Forever! My Yui-chan!" An Undine Faery, beautifully clad in blue, huddled in a corner of her bedroom, crying and lamenting in the place she spent some of her most happy memories in... No trace of any of the glorious titles that she earned in her full-dive gaming life on her face, neither the titles The Flash nor the Berserk Healer could account for her current vulnerable state. Her blue hair was all over the place she was occupying yet she did nothing to tidy it up as right now, she just couldn't care less about 'propriety' her strict mother drilled into her oh so thoroughly since she was just a child.

She had every reason to weep since she had just recieved a private message from Agil-san of her beloved daughter, Yui-chan's failure to infiltrate the system of — of that facility. They should have 'thoroughly' prepared for the mission... There should have been enough countermeasures to protect Yui. But not only had she been caught so easily, she also was traced back by some unknown entity, probably some counter infiltration virus, which corrupted her core data in not just Kirito's amusphere, but also in Kirito's computer as well in which Kirito kept her copied files as a backup incase anything happened to his amusphere. In other words, Yui-chan was as good as dead now. Agil-san currently was trying the best he can, but even she with her limited knowledge in programming and full-dive knew that such a result was most probably irreversible.

"Yui d-died... She died, died while trying to save her papa... No, who am I kidding? It was I who sent her to her death... I should have known that this 'operation', if we can even call it that, had a real chance of failing. But what did I do as her mother? I sent her to her death! I killed her! Just what kind of a mother am I? I'm the worst!" Her words were mostly unintelligible by her repeated sobs as both of her hands were covering her face. She was blaming herself for being so powerless, but most of all, she was blaming herself for letting her Yui-chan go to such a dangerous mission. Had she been that desperate to save Kirito-kun that she would forsake the safety of her own daughter?

After a while, she got very tired of crying. With a long sigh, she tried to gather her composure, knowing that it was her responsibility to tell everything to Kirito-kun, personally.

She had to tell him... Tell him how she was not only a huge failure as a wife, but also a huge failure as a mother who could even risk the life of their own daughter behind his back. If she had only asked him in the first place, maybe he would have put more safety countermeasures... No, he wouldn't even risk it, he's Kirito-kun after all, that was the reason why they, as in, everyone in Kirito's circle kept it hidden from him in the first place... But that doesn't excuse what she had done to him...

* * *

Two hours later, they were inside their home on the 22nd floor in Aincrad when a newly awoken Kirito asked her to repeat what she had just 'said' to him in shambles, she could clearly see the disbelief on his avatar's face. Just from his expression, it was easy for Asuna to understand that there was nearly nothing that he wouldn't do if only what she just told him were lies. She then repeated, this time speaking more clearly, even when every word was making her want to puke, she was determined to not break any eye contact with her love, he deserved at least that much.

"Yui-chan came up with the idea of infiltrating their system with the Ordinal Scale. Just like when she entered that drone last year... I-we devised a plan that would make a momentary power shortage to confuse the system into thinking Yui-chan is just a command of a program that operates the generators during power-shortage. What we didn't expect was that for some reason, the system didn't even have a program installed like that in the first place... So it was not long before it recognized Yui as a foreign program...

Asuna gulped, trying to hold her tears and contain the tightness in her throat as she went on,

"We were really surprised and excited at first as it didn't take even five minutes when Yui-Chan said that she had found the file that contained the method of transfering one's consciousness into cyberspace. Then she said that she was going to send a copy of the file to your computer as it was the safest option among many we could think of. Then something happened and then Yui-chan apologised then we lost contact with her." She broke down into a crying wreck at the last part and fell into her knees. "Kirito-kun! I... I... I... I'm sorry!"

She was devastated of the fact that Kirito was feeling powerless. She knew that if Kirito-kun was his usual and healthy self, he would try everything in the book to help her, even if he knew beforehand that all of his efforts would just be in vain. But nowadays he can't even get out of his hospital bed. It must have definitely crushed his spirits...

He just looked down, his messy black hair covering his face, not even uttering a single word for several minutes, but when he did, it was with a very heavy tone of voice, he uttered just one sentence, his face dark; "Asuna, let's leave this house..."

Instead of hearing words of disgust or anger from him, Kirito only let out a faint smile... It was more disconcerting for her as she believed that she deserved to be punished. Maybe Kirito-kun needed to be somewhere else to speak clearly... So she said,

"You're right, let's have some fresh air, let me tak..." she was interrupted as Kirito elaborated:

"Asuna... I meant to say, I do not want to ever return to this house, ever again."

Asuna unfortunately understood him. Some part of her knew that staying here would only bring more painful memories of their Yui-chan, so she agreed, not without any hesitation though, as the house was still full of memories of her and Kirito with Yui-chan. Such a wonderful place... Their home... Without Yui-chan, then what's the point in living here? Is it still considered their home?

She nodded her head while avoiding looking at her beloved.

"And just so you know, I'm not angry at you. I may had done the same thing... Because I understand how you feel Asuna. You were feeling powerless right? Seeing my body decline day after day... Sometimes I wonder, if the one suffering the most is you?"

Asuna gulped, maintaining eye contact with the Spriggan. If she didn't know any better, she would have assumed that he had some skill to read minds. He went on,

"Just like you I too am sick and tired of being powerless Asuna. Especially in the real world... My real body has become a huge burden to me. I can neither smell, nor taste; neither can I walk nor touch you... Smell you... Sometimes when I'm alone, I find myself wishing that this body was my real body, and this game my reality.

"Me too." Asuna said, looking down, grasping her hands in the middle of her chest as she continued.

"Together with Yui-chan, I dream of us living happily like that, going to little adventures together, hanging out with the others, Yui-chan asking for a little b-brother a-and a l-little s-sister, Yui-chan being a n-nee-san..." Just as she broke down and started crying, Kirito was there for her, holding her tightly. They cried, together for their child... It was so hard, so painful that Kirito was sure learning that he was cancer wouldn't scratch the surface of what he was feeling right now. But he had to stay strong. Not just for Asuna, but for himself as well. So he took a deep breath and whispered enthusiastically to his love,

"Hey Asuna"

"Hmm?" She replied.

"I'm planning to change my race..."

She immediately let go of him and looked into his eyes. He was serious.

"Kirito-kun... Why?" as she asked the Spriggan, he too looked back into her deep blue eyes.

Asuna was shocked. Just why? Why did he decide to change his avatar now of all times? Why not create a new account? And more importantly, what's with the facade? But her thoughts were interrupted as Kirito decided to reply,

"Spriggans... We are free of this world's, Alfheim's politics. We are free to do whatever we want... Tell me, Asuna, what's the real meaning and purpose — of being free and without shackles... If the people you love are not there for you to share it with them?"

Asuna was left speechless. Her Kirito-kun was really good at doing that to her. It was not the first time he had spoken that way to her... There were certain times that Kirito-kun was surprisingly... Melancholic, even observant to a shocking degree. Especially when he was assessing other people's problems... This time he was doing the same thing, but to himself. He was always so carefree other than times like these... Well, not always, but most of the time. Doing what he liked, how he liked was like a second nature to him, so she really thought being a Spriggan suited him the best. For him to speak like this...

"Kirito-kun... You know what that means right? All of your stats and magic will be reset...'

"I've been thinking — you know, thinking is all I can do nowadays, can't even go to a toilet by myself anymore, so with nothing to do but slowly watch myself wither away...

As she was just going to interrupt him, he went on,

"Spending most of your time in bed, watching your family and people who mean the world to you, looking at you — the way they look at you... It's as if you are a totally different person..." He shook his head and went on.

"Watching them sacrifice their time and happiness just to do something for you... Be there for you... It feels good at the beginning, knowing that there are people who care for you... But in time, it only serves to make you feel like crap about yourself. And no, Asuna. You are different." As an angry Asuna was about to interject, Kirito added, knowing exactly what she was outraged about.

"Asuna, you are the only one I feel close enough to give my everything, and in return recieve anything and everything you have to offer... Because your're my wife. That's what a husband is for, right?"

Asuna's expression changed from anger to surprise, then she began blushing while at the same time wiping off her tears with her sleeves as she said in a mock anger, "Moooh! Baka! If you say it like that, how can I stop myself..." She then threw herself at Kirito who received her gently and held her tightly against him, his world getting darker as Asuna's blue hair was blocking all the light...

"Just what am I going to do with you?" She sighed in bliss despite her world crumbling before her, if it's with Kirito, she could do it. So she went on, "Well, shoganai na, as your wife, I have to look after you. Because you're my kawaii husband." She finished, while patting and massaging her Kirito's head gently.

"I don't know if I should be offended by that..." Kirito remarked, slightly irritated by being called cute of all things.

Asuna giggled a little then went on her speech while continuing patting his head which was resting peacefully on her shoulder,

"But-you-are-cute," as Asuna was going to elaborate on that, Kirito soon gave up and just replied with, trademark "Hai Hai..." after sighing. Kirito then said, turning somber,

"I missed your real hair, Asuna..." He said as he took a small handful of her hair, looking at it with longing...

His words, not to mention the small gesture with his hand was really effective, making her overwhelmed with emotions... Even after their child's death, that Kirito still managed to found a way to make her a happy woman, even if only for that moment, which didn't last long as he continued, this time his face not on her shoulders, but on the same level as hers as he closed his eyes, gritting his teeth.

"I've had enough, Asuna. Enough... I want a fresh start, without this burden on my shoulders..."

"Did you decide which race you're gonna pick then?" Asuna intentionally diverted the conversation elsewhere as she felt it was for the best.

"No, not yet."

"Then how about being a Sylph? As my other account, Erica too was a Sylph, I can account to it's buoyancy. Even though my current race, Undine is pretty light, a Sylph is on a completely different level. As the Faery race Sylph is the lightest race and uses wind, so I think it will quite suit you. Also, to change a race, you will have to have the approval of the faction leader of the race you want to become so, Sakuya-san will definitely be the most supportive one in accepting you to their Faction."

"Hmmm, what better way to feel less burdened by choosing to be reborn as the lightest of the nine Faery races, is what your're saying then..." He wondered out loud as he held his chin with his right hand while supporting his right arm with his left hand.

He then nodded, "Alright, I've decided to be reborn, as a Sylph..."

Seeing Kirito's resolve and not wanting him to be any more alone than he already was, it didn't take Asuna too long to resolve herself as well, "Then I'm changing my race too. I gave my other account to my mother as she had taken a liking to it so..."

Though Kirito was touched, he didn't want Asuna to feel obligated to follow him as he said, "What? If you do, you will lose all your sword skills, including the one Yuuki gave you. What was it? Rosemary?"

"Mother's Rosario!" Asuna just couldn't find it in herself to scold him for mistaking Yuuki's only memento, the 11 combo move... "Didn't you know? You can keep your normal and original skills while changing your race. The only thing lost will be your magic experience and your stats which will be set to default. By the way, I'm thinking of changing into a Sylph as well, so we can easily do the faction missions together..."

Kirito felt more at ease, knowing that Asuna wouldn't have to give up that particular skill. She really loved Yuuki. But still, he was unwilling to see Asuna throw away her years of hard work in cultivating her character... But it was only fair, he couldn't stop her if she was adamant about it, which she definitely was, knowing her personality. So, overwhelmed with emotions, he suddenly hugged her tightly. "Asuna!"

Her Asuna... Just what did he do to deserve such a woman... He would never know...

"Kirito-kun, I tried hard not to, but I just can't stop these tears, not in this game..."

She sobbed on his chest, then as she looked at him, Kirito too looked back. They didn't have to speak to understand what they wanted to convey to each other. One look was enough as they nodded at each other and then finally, exited their home, a safe haven that they spent more than five years, with Yui-chan... Only looking back one last time, before closing the door behind their backs, never to step in again...


	3. The Transition-Part 2

Quake~Quake~Quake~Quake~

It was a loud rumbling sound of an 'earthquake' that woke everybody in the Tristain Academy late at night. The intense shaking that seemed to only intensify didn't really help the crowd of students in panic either. Thankfully it all stopped in less than a minute without any major damage, and the panic was dissolved, but none of them could sleep despite the assurances made by the Headmaster Osmond. Even some of the teachers were too frightened to sleep.

Nevertheless, it was just another day at the Magic Academy, at last, the sun had risen bright and clear on the morning after the Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual which happened just yesterday. Every second year student and above had their familiars with them to reassure their scared partners, well apart from a certain second year pinked haired female student. Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière was among the majority who couldn't get a sleep, but for completely different reasons.

As to the reason, yesterday's Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual was a complete disaster for her. She was the only one who failed to summon her familiar. So it was a given that she became the laughingstock of her class. Even though she was called 'Zero' before, she wasn't humiliated to this degree, ever... Especially that loose Germanian barbarian woman... She didn't hold back this time. Compared to this, the earthquake was but a little fly that only irritated her.

She sat quietly on the edge of her four poster luxury bed, her normally vibrant self was nowhere to be seen as her eyes were fixed on nothing in particular. Her teachers had made it clear, gently, but in no uncertain terms that this was her last chance to prove herself.

She had practiced the spell a thousand times to the best of her abilities without actually performing the summoning. But yet again, she proved that she was 'Zero'. What was she going to tell her mother now? When her mother hears of this, she will probably be summoned and be forced to leave the academy to marry an aristocrat... Probably her fiancé...

"It's too early, I don't want that!" She shouted, blushing. She then shook her head as she spoke, being angry at herself for being embarrassed,

"It would be disgraceful of me to marry him if I can not even graduate from this Academy!" She then stopped shaking her head and lowered her head, feeling disheartened,

"Do I even deserve him? Probably not..."

She sighed. As she was further lamenting on her unfortunate life, she heard a girl scream, coming from outside.

To Louise, such scream was probably not a good sign, what followed suit could only be described as mayhem. There were sounds of glass breaking, screaming and magic blasts... when she decided to look for the reason of the ruckus, what she saw in front of the window stupefied her.

"Is that a m-m-m-m-mountain? H-h-how? Why? Is this a d-dream?"

She immediately rubbed her eyes in panic, only to see the same scene when she looked back... It was real, "just what... Wait, just what is that thing all the way reaching to the cloudes? It's so high... I've never seen a mountain as big as this?"

She was definitely at the Academy, there was no question there as she saw many familiar faces all over the corridors once she got her school robes on and went to investigate. When she asked some of the students what was going on, they didn't know either but they were told to assemble outside, Headmaster Osmond was going to make a speech. So she got outside among many of her classmates and waited for the Headmaster to come out. Thanks to the teachers, the students were more calm then before.

Once the old pervert known by the students as their Headmaster came and started his speech, what he said only managed to calm the students down for the time being. The old man said that due to unknown reasons, a piece of foreign land was now bordering their academy. As students, they were to stay inside their dormitories until further notice. He also informed them that the school already sent an urgent letter with a dragon rider to the Tristain Royal Family which will arrive in a single day. Also they will send an investigative force to discover what the foreign land was all about. He asked for volunteers to accompany Professor Colbert for the investigation. This was not purely for investigation, but for helping the common folk as well. There weren't any local villages near in that direction, but as aristocrats as well as students of their academy, they were to take responsibility in such times. Of course, the first years were not permitted. Some third years were among the first ones to raise their hands to volunteer. Soon a few second years followed as well.

"Ara, I really want to know what treasures are hidden there so I'm in." The Zerbst mage student too volunteered to the irritation of Louise...

Tabitha followed her with her dragon, saying, "I'm going if you're going,"

Louise then raised her little hand and stutteringly said, "O-Of c-course, it is a n-nobles's d-duty to p-p-protect the p-plebeians. I can help."

"Oh, Zero is going to help? Are you even a mage? You can't even cast a simple spell, you will only be a bother..."

"Haa? Shut up you Barbarian! No one asked for your opinion! It's not like I can't do any magic! I can cast explosions, they might be helpful too..." She finished talking, about to cry but when the Zerbst woman just raised her hands in surrender, placating the emotionally fragile girl,

"Suit yourself, but be careful not to blast us as well..." Maybe placating is not the word, but in her own way...

Louise just gritted her teeth and went to stand next to Professor Colbert who was helplessly watching them do their usual bickering for the umpteenth time, but he soon recovered himself and then waited for the other students to get in the building, as soon as the last one left, he let out a cough before starting their briefing,

"Alright students of Tristain Academy, for the safety of our school, you have chosen to stand up, for that, I would like to thank you. Now, according to our initial reconnaissance, with the intel we have obtained, we could deduce that we were not transpoted to a different land, but a piece of land has appeared during the earthquake right before us out of nowhere. We do not yet know the cause for this, according to the testimonies of some locals, during the earthquake, they noticed a strange white light momentarily flash before disappearing, replacing it's place were the long mountain range that suddenly appeared."

All of the members of the investigation team were listening every detail the Professor was feeding them. The most shocking part was,

"As you may have noticed, there seems to be a part of the mountain that dwarfs the rest..."

To the nods of the gathered students, Colbert announced with an unsure tone of voice,

"It is simply, not a mountain, but a tree."

""""What?"""" All of the students couldn't believe their ears, they weren't expecting to hear such a none sense. A tree? That big? Appearing out of nowhere? Impossible!

But soon Colbert explained that with enough magnification, they were able to make out the huge branches of the tree, along with it's leaves...There was no denying it. Something very wrong just happened... Not knowing anything only amplified their unease so, they immediately set off for their destination... The Big Tree!


	4. The Transition- Part 3

Kazu, a Gnome Faery, just couldn't believe his luck when he chanced upon a unique quest right after wishing his farewells to his party members who he was just now on a really adventurous dungeon raid with.The NPCs with the unique quest were the two old timers right in front of him. The bald old man who was wearing some bizarre orange robes that went surprisingly well along with the strange black sunglasses was currently giving him the mission as he went on,

"So I would like you to confess to your loved one on that small island on the 24th floor as it is the place where my ancestor Arthus was born... If you succeed, I will pass onto you the family heirloom which has been passed on from father to son in my family for generations... Behold, Excalibur!" The old man dramatically announced as he took a golden majestic sword out of nowhere, showing it to the suspicious Gnome, but upon further inspection, he was shocked to see that it was the real deal as the familiar player panel appeared before him with a ding, alerting about the weapon details, quelling his suspicions of being the victim of some ill-humored trolls.

He was embarrassed. He had to admit he did have a crush on Yulolo21 but he didn't even know her real name as they were only acquaintances who only met inside the game because they were in the same guild. She wouldn't look at guys like him, would she? He was content with just spending time with her — killing monsters — Ugh.

"But I thought the Excalibur was already taken by some strong player?"

The old lady who was kindly smiling at him replied, "oh, you must be talking about the Caliber? Natskashii na... I haven't seen it in a while... It's pretty powerful, but in the end, nothing more than a fake. I don't know where that 'player' as you said got one, but the true Excalibur always stayed at the hands of our Pendragon clan. The reason we were willing to give a faery such as yourself our most cherished sword is because my dear husband and I sadly have not been blessed with an heir. As we have no one who we can pass this family heirloom onto, we decided to choose the exact time and location where my husband's glorious ancestor Arthus Pendragon sacrificed himself to protect Alfheim. And you just happened to pass by the exact same place where he used his Excalibur for the last time to defeat Gaia at the cost of his life... This has to be fate! We would have liked to give you the sword right away, but as it so happens, this sword can only be passed to those who have the courage to get rejected as it is in the nature of everyone and everything to get rejected. Even nature gets rejected sometimes, mostly by humans but thankfully there are faeries to balance it, am I right?" The old lady let out a brief laugh as her husband nodded his head, "Well said dear, wise words as always," and put his one hand over his wife's back and said with his shaking voice, "yo, adventurer! We hope that you have the courage to obtain this sword and protect Alfheim when the time comes! Do you accept?"

The familiar quest menu appeared before the boy who didn't even think twice before accepting it. The old man then added one more thing, "You have until sunset. If you do not accomplish it by then, not only will you not get the sword, you also will not be welcomed at the round table! Now, off you go, my faery adventurer. May the force of nature be with you...

The now confused Gnome nodded, shy about confessing to his crush but determined enough to complete the quest as soon as possible, so he left, taking off with his wings, to the place where once a passionate Imp had peacefully drifted away in the arms of her crying sister, which ironically was the same place where the two met for the first time...

As he was out of sight, the old woman suddenly barked out a hearty laughter, "round table? You said he will not be welcome in the round table? And what was with that goodbye? "May the force of nature be with you?" That is just so silly! Hahahahahaha, Kirito-kun!"

The old man slowly transformed into his original form. When his transformation was complete, there stood a boy of 12-13 years, with black hair down to shoulders, with more prominent pointy ears then his previous avatar. He was wearing a black robe with some white and gold patterns here and there...

"Urussai-na! I just thought he needed another push to strengthen his resolve..." He replied while rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed.

Asuna too was reverting back to her original state, as her transformation too was complete, there stood a similarly aged girl, with long orange-brownish chestnut hair reaching all the way to her tighs, her hazel eyes full of life. She was wearing a dress similar to when she was the vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood in SAO.

"Hahahaha, I haven't laughed like this since the time you proposed to that guy as an old lady, saying that you're very rich and asking him to marry a rich old lady like you, and that it will be beneficial for him in real life if he was to be your husband! His expression then was priceless! Hahaha!"

"Well, I had to do it since I'd lost that bet hadn't I?... Wonder whose fault was that?" He sulked.

"Well? Have you learned your lesson then?" She innocently asked, looking at him sideways.

"What lesson?" Retorted an irritated Kirito.

"Don't make a bet with me, if you do, you'll only taste the bitter flavor of defeat, well I won't stop you if you like to lose. I guess everyone has their own unique hobbies..." Asuna pridefully finished while looking at him passively with a single eye.

"Ugh... Asuna, someday..." He sighed.

"Nani?" Asuna said with her sweet-sounding voice, smiling innocently at him which only made him sigh for the second time that day, making Asuna laugh as she suddenly jumped at him who was of course not expecting her to do such a thing, making them both fall... As they lied down on the grass, enjoying each other's company, hugging each other, watching the blue sky... They were happily thinking about the same thing: Their last three months... What they did with the Gnome just now could be summarized as these last three months. Hopefully there will be many more to come... Hopefully...


	5. The Transition-Part 4

Together, they made their way back to the neutral city; the former capital city of Alfheim, Alne as they planned to enter the World Tree to teleport back to the 24th floor of Aincrad to witness a precious moment of a shy boy finally confessing to his crush.

Asuna and Kirito had observed the boy in question's party for a few days and finally figured out the dynamics of the group. So they were reasonably sure that the girl should accept his confession. When they neared the city parameters, Kirito, as always, casted his illusion magic on both of them to make them seem older, where they were now at the same height as their previous avatars.

The illusion magic which Kirito had just used was a unique magic called 'Mirrorage' that he had obtained right after he and Asuna evolved into a new race called 'High Sylph'. Kirito has to permanently sacrifice half of his mana points for 24 hours just to use it once, the more he uses it in that time frame, the more his MP bar will be halved. Currently Kirito has only a quarter of his mana which will eventually return to normal after a day.

High-Sylphs, an advanced race to the Sylphs that could only be attained by eating the forbidden fruit; The Golden Apple which grows only on top of Yggdrasil where a Faery could never reach.

* * *

Three months ago, right after they exited the Well of Rebirth which was located inside the Chapel of Beginnings in Yggdrasil City, the alert menu appeared before them regarding a special quest. As they hadn't expected to encounter a special quest right after their 'rebirth', they welcomed the unexpected prospect, which quickly turned into unease upon further reading the details of the quest.

Apparently while they were using the Well of Rebirth, Yggdrasil took a major damage from a heavy meteor shower and lost some of it's fruits due to the impact. Kirito and Asuna were partly held responsible for the accident by the Faery King Oberon as Yggdrasil was at it's most vulnerable state while operating the Well of Rebirth. So they were tasked with the mission of finding the apples as soon as possible. The deadline was until tomorrow morning. If they successfully completed the quest, then King Oberon will grant them an audience with him and they will have the option to be reborn as an Alf. If they failed the mission, then the two Golden Apples shall fall into the hands of Niflheim, if so, then it may very well spell the end of Yggdrasil as they knew it...

It was a compulsory quest, they had no choice but to accept it. They heard rumors about several quests that could let you become the legendary race Alf. But it seems none have managed to succeed in any of them so far as the quests were impossibly hard to accomplish according to some veteran players. And when you invite more players to do the quest, than no rewards were given even if you were to complete it, so it was out of option to get help from their Faery Lord Sakuya or anyone for that matter if they wanted to become Alves...

And so, they 'chose' to accept the quest and started their search immediately after they got out of the World Tree. They felt bad about not going to the 24th floor, but this was more important. They didn't want the city that they came to love, Alne to be destroyed even if it was a game which it was not, at least not to them.

So they searched and searched, flew here and there until it was midnight inside the game but no matter what they did, no matter how much they searched, they just couldn't find the apples. If Kirito was a Spriggan, he may have used his tracking skills to detect the apple no matter how unlikely it could be for them to find the apples even then, but at least they could have a chance. But now that the both of them are Sylphs, that option was not available. They were beginning to think that getting help was their only choice to complete the quest and save Alfheim as being an Alf was less important then loosing the place they came to love. So as they were just about to contact Leafa and Lady Sakuya to inform them about the grand quest, a flickering ball of purple light, the size of a tennis ball suddenly appeared in front of them which obviously got their attention. It somehow felt very familiar to both Kirito and Asuna but they just couldn't place it...

As they had no idea how to find the apples, they were more than willing to follow this mysterious purple ball of light. Maybe it had something to do with the quest? They were hoping that it would take them to the location of the apples which predictably, it did.

They found the apple closest to them inside a deep well, while the other they found on one of the floating islands which circled around the World Tree.

When they eventually obtained the last apple, Asuna proposed a crazy idea. "Kirito-kun? What if — what if we kept the apples instead of handing them over to King Oberon? Maybe something even more amazing will happen if we ate the apples instead, the quest doesn't specifically state that Niflheim will rise if we didn't bring the apples to the king."

Was her point, of course, she also secretly had a deep hatred towards the Faery King Oberon thanks to one Sugou so it was understandable that she would not want to give the apples to him or even see him at all for that matter.

It was fine either way for Kirito as he didn't have the desire to become an Alf that much anyway as he was feeling satisfied enough with his new avatar already. Tasting the refreshing scent of the virtual wind that could only be sensed by Sylphs, he replied with a shrug,

"I've always wanted to taste the forbidden fruit anyway, so either way is fine with me."

So after they had finished eating their share of strawberry-chocolate tasting golden apple, not unexpectedly something strange happened. Both of them found themselves in a virtual dark room where they could change anything about their character as long as it had something to do with their avatar's appearance.

As they were in different virtual rooms, they had to use the message system to communicate and eventually, they came to a decision to make their avatars just like themselves back when they were 12-13 years old in 'real life'.

To accomplish this, Asuna had to exit the game to compile her younger photos along with Kirito's from both of their houses. As she had run away from her own home because of a serious argument with her mother about why she left her university, she had to secretly get in and take the photos without being seen. Aside from that, everything went relatively smoothly.

She then picked the relevant ones among them and took their photos with her cell phone's camera and uploaded them to her amusphere. From there, she sent the files relevant to Kirito to his amusphere and then, using the facial recognition mode of ALO, they were able to recreate their younger selves with a few 'minor' modifications. They could also customize their wings which was not even available as an option, even for players who pay to customize their avatars, they could only select from a limited amount of choices, even then, they couldn't even change the color of their wings.

But it was different for Asuna and Kirito as they had nearly unlimited choice in customizing their avatars, so they spent a lot of time trying to come up with the best possible results and after about a few hours, they were finally done.

With the system-assist as a guide, Asuna made herself a white-pink ethereal wing resembling that of a bird's while Kirito also made himself a similar black one, but his was more on the robust side while Asuna's was more for elegance...

When they completed their customization, they also noticed some other changes to their in-game characters. Now, they were of a different race called High-Sylph, a race much lighter and more agile than a Sylph, but the benefits didn't just end there. It seems as a 'High' race, they possessed two Faery affinities. One for Sylphs and the other for their previous race. So it was Spriggan for Kirito and Undine for Asuna other than their current affinities. Although their magic were set to default, it was definitely worth it in the long run as they would eventually advance their magic while having the advantage of two different affinities.

* * *

And ever since then, it was as if Asuna and Kirito were living their rebellious teenage years that they never had, inside ALO, literally as teenagers again...

At the start, much to their irritation, they had to participate in a lot of raids with the Sylphs as it was seen as their duty but thanks to Lady Sakuya, they were able to come to an agreement on participating only in certain quests like grand or special ones. This kind of privilege was a first, it never happened before among the sylphs so it did cause some unrest but eventually, thanks to Leafa's standing up for her brother and after getting saved by the duo a few times in their latest grand quests, they quieted down.

Asuna and Kirito enjoyed many things with each other that they hadn't had the opportunity to do in their lives. Playing games, singing, matchmaking, pranking the bad players and even saving damsels in distress. But one thing in particular that they did together, they enjoyed the most; Dancing. It was not your ordinary dance, no. It was a Faery Dance.

In the three month period, whenever they remembered the death of their one and only child, Yui or the news that Kirito's health was even further detoriating, they just threw themselves from Aincrad down to the plains of Alfheim... While falling headfirst, they hold on to each other as tightly as possible while spinning faster and faster... At the very last moment, they use all of their power to flap their wings as fast as they possibly could to avoid 'crash landing'. It was so exhilarating for the duo, almost addicting... They had never felt more alive... The risks of a possible death penalty for their characters was not a welcome one, but that's why it made it that much more fun to execute the dance. Asuna called it 'The Mating of the Dragon'.

They were able to pull this through only because of their High-Sylph status. Their wings mustered much more power than the rest but the most notable aspect about their wings was not that they were much stronger, but just like Alves, they didn't have a time limit either...

This, they learned much later, when they were dancing for a while and wondered why they still hadn't fallen...

* * *

As they had just arrived at the gates of The World Tree, something happened. Something that they had coveted for a long time... Something they thought was possible only in their wildest dreams... Something that could only be interpreted by the duo as, ""Arienai!"".


	6. Arbor Vitae - Part 1

Nothin _g_ more than a me _d_ ium,

Made solel _y_ for 'their' kin,

By the c _r_ eators...

Don't even understand, yet sti _l_ l...

Only just a myth outside 'their' perimeters.

So does the kin _a_ part from for the others,

 _I_ t's ashes from the creators...

Torn as it must,

To bits,

Born as it _s_ hall,

For ma _g_ ick it is...

* * *

An endless void...

Trapped in eternal darkness,

Alone, for who knows how long...

No more intimate companion, apart from his so called 'old friend', until...

"...to-kun!"

"...ease an... me!"

[A... Voice? Sounds very familiar...Wait, is that...]

 _"Þú fylla heilagr austr, brott svalr bani!"_

[That spell. As...una? That's right, it was her! Asuna...]

It could only be her voice, he wasn't mistaken! Kirito's mind raced as he tried to get a hold of his surroundings, which he soon realized was a futile attempt as he realised that he couldn't even move a single muscle, let alone opening his eyes.

He didn't know what happened to him. One moment, he was heading for the gates of Yggdrasil with Asuna, and then everything just blacked out...

It was as if he was in some kind of a limbo, slowly drifting away... As if something or someone, was trying to take him away by force, until now that is. Now, it seems that the only thing that was preventing him from going any further than where he currently is, was none other than 'her', his Asuna's voice...

[Then, has the time finally come? Did I die? Or am I, dying?]

As he contemplated about the things that he had to let go, he couldn't just sit back and accept it,

[No! I don't want to! There are still many more things that I have yet to do, that I have yet to experience! Am I just going to disappear without even fulfilling any of them?]

He was afraid, afraid to lose everything that he holds dear. It was as if he was a child again; left alone in a dark room, afraid of monsters that will come to get him...

"Kirito-kun!" The yearning, but most of all, that desperation in Asuna's voice was more than enough to make Kirito completely forgo his fear, along with his own selfish thoughts as he tried harder to do something to get out of his predicament, but unfortunately...

[Oh, I so much want to answer her but... I just can't... Me who even overpowered the laws of Virtual Worlds, is helpless against death it seems. I've never felt so powerless... It's as if...]

His thoughts were interrupted by a heart-wrenching sob of his Asuna, who unfortunately broke down, crying.

"Kirito-kun! Onegai! Hitori ni shinaide!!"

[No, Asuna! I'm right here! Asuna!]

Even though she was crying, she managed to chant the spell flawlessly.

 _"Þú fylla heilagr austr, brott svalr bani!"_

Kirito could painfully hear her shaky, weak voice as she was religiously repeating the same Undine spell for the second time, hoping that after this, her Kirito would come back to her...

[Asuna! Asuna! Stop this!]

 _"Þú fylla heill austr!"_

[Yametekure, Asuna...]

No matter how much he tried, his voice couldn't reach her...

 _"Þeír fylla h-heilagr austr, brott svalr b-bani!"_

She was obviously out of breath, but she still tried again and again.

[Please! Asuna, stop! You're only making it more painful!]

 _"Þú f-fylla heilagr austr, brott svalr bani!"_

[Damn it!]

[If there's any god or devil out there, I don't care what you take from me or where you send me, so please, please at least let me just have a few final words with her!]

It was a first for Kirito, not when he was suffering from cancer, not even when he lost Yui did he felt this desperate and powerless, to the point of even being willing to beg for help from a higher power.

The reason for his desperation in wanting so much to have some final words with his beloved was not just because he wanted to spend some precious time together with his loved one for the last time, but it was also for something else; something far more important to him yet so painfully disturbing, that he had to regularly contain himself just to avoid broaching the subject with her.

The rare times that he did manage to broach the subject, his attempts were proven to be fruitless, thanks to one High-Sylph Lady who oh so stubbornly changes the subject immediately as she doesn't want to point out the obvious.

It was the obvious fact that there was a very real chance of Asuna committing suicide if she had somehow lost him. Something which she plainly said to him back in SAO, that she would kill herself if Kirito ever died before her, which made such possibility much greater with Yui gone as well...

He was no fool, he knew when Asuna was serious, and at those times, no matter the backlash, she would always stay true to her words, mean everything that she said to the point of not even hesitating to prove if need be. That was one of the reasons that he had fallen in love with her in the first place.

She had already more than proved her resolve with her actions on more than one occasions, with what happened with Heathcliff, taking the sword blow in Kirito's place... Not to mention when they learned that he was cancer, she clearly outdid herself by looking after him which only strengthened their love for each other.

Kirito wasn't really disturbed by her commitment, no, he even welcomed it as she was his wife, so there was nothing wrong with it. But seeing Asuna's determination and unquestionable loyalty to him didn't make Kirito as happy as he thought he would be either.

As he too loved Asuna just as much as she did him, he didn't want to see her going through with her words, giving up on life just because he is no longer with her... There was much more to life, if only she just let time do it's work, slowly erasing all the pain, along with all the love she felt for him at some part of her life, turning them to just what they should be, just memories... Then everything would be okay, wouldn't it?

So, Kirito had made plans to talk her out of this some time in the near future as he didn't want her to give up on life because of him, but when he attempted to broach the subject, even when so much as utter a vague statement, Asuna just changed the subject with surprising ease, not even giving a chance for Kirito to come up with something to counter her efforts.

So that was why he had to tell her!

Tell her to live!

Tell her to not give up!

Tell her to forget about him!

Tell her to forget about Yui...

But did he really have the right to decide for her?

Even though he knew he was being a hypocrite here as he couldn't even imagine forgiving himself if ever he forgot about Asuna or Yui... But he didn't care! So he was being a hypocrite! So what? Like he gives a crap! He was fine being a hypocrite so long as Asuna lives the fulfilling life that she deserves.

 _"~Þú fylla heilagr austr, brott svalr bani!~"_

This time, there was a strange melody on the background as the exhausted girl poured everything she had left in her while chanting her last spell...

Her voice that was blended uniquely well with the melody took on a mysterious form, almost an ethereal one that could even captivate the most lowly beings who don't even possess any sense as to what a music is.

As Asuna went on with the spell, with every magic word that she cried out, it was as if the melody grew even sadder, while at the same time it also grew even more hopeful. But that was not all... Her words contained not just sadness or hope, but also anger as well; albeit hidden.

There were anger seeped deep within every one of her magic words, hiding in secret, carrying the _will_ of it's caster. She was feeling angry at her own powerlessness to save her Kirito-kun, but most of all, she was very angry at the reality that her Kirito had to go through this, after all that suffering... They didn't even get to marry in real life! Right after they lost their child, now they were again loosing something very important to them? How can she be not angry?

So, feeling that her beloved didn't deserve such an ending, she decided to heal him with everything she got, not even caring that what she was doing inside the game was obviously futile, if Kirito's real body died, then she had nothing to do... But... But maybe his consciousness can live on? Even though she failed to get her hands on the technology to achieve that, maybe they won't even need something like that in the first place?

A desperate attempt made by a mind on the verge of breaking...

She was so obssesed on trying to revive Kirito that she didn't even notice the thousand abnormalities all around her that shouldn't even exist inside a game...

Right after she finished chanting her final spell, she didn't even have the time to be surprised about seeing Kirito start breathing again as she found herself loosing her balance before falling down on the ground, loosing consciousness...

* * *

It had not been even an hour since she, along with a decent piece of Alfheim were transported into a new system by the hacking of the 'Intruder'. By the time she was able to stop the hacking, it was already too late, nevertheless, she managed to stop the Intruder from deleting her files by sacrificing the Yggdrasil City, as well as the other Faery cities and most of their lands which served to buy enough time for her to create a diversion by confusing the attacker into thinking that it was successfully deleting all of the remainder of The Seed, what it really was deleting was just a backup program similar to ALO to protect against hackers, which by how the things went, worked perfectly well. So, only the former capital, now the Capital Faery City of Alne was left intact, along with the surrounding plato and mountains that serve as a natural defense against potential enemy attacks, all safe from the 'Intruder' who was in the dark before it was too late.

She was successfully able to force-teleport all of the 'online' Faeries who were outside of the perimeters of the new Faery Capital of Alne to the City Hall located at the center of the capital, apart from the players in Aincrad of course as it was the first to be hacked, and first to be deleted so she couldn't even have the time to teleport the players on it.

* * *

 _Yggdrasil_ was watching the spectacle in mild curiosity as the female Sylph Faery poured her everything into her last spell which surprisingly succeeded in saving the poor male Sylph who was at the death's door. This act was quite foreign to her as she was just 'born' when the Cardinal's files accidentally mixed with that of the World Tree; Yggdrasil's, promoting Yggdrasil from a Top-Down AI program to a Bottom-Up program that gave her a consciousness, which was further developed by some currently unknown factors after the 'Transition'.

As the mother of all the Faeries, Yggdrasil cares for her children equally, and could feel everything that they were feeling as long as they were in her area of influence. So it should come as a no surprise that she was slightly overwhelmed by how complicated a creature the Faeries had proved to be since the 'Transition'.

Not surprisingly though, the most complicated ones among the Faeries were the two right in front of her 'doorstep', who also were among the highest among their race. Since they were simply too different from the others, especially with the way that the female Faery was behaving just now, she better kept an eye on them, but first things first, she should improve on the defenses...


	7. Arbor Vitae - Part 2 (18)

4 hours later...

The early morning 'sun', with it's first rays of light greeted the two young faeries who were lying down unconscious on the smooth green pavement in the richly decorated courtyard leading up to the giant wooden entrance that opened up to a wide room which also functioned as an elevator to get to Yggdrasil City.

From their pristine appearance, it couldn't be easily discerned that just a few hours ago, they were facing a huge crisis which would have ended in a tragedy for the both of them if not for Asuna's tenacity and Kirito's will to live, but thankfully they managed to get over it even though they themselves were none the wiser.

If left to their own devices, they would have just slept there all day long to recover from last night's events which was — in many meanings — tiring for the duo, only if it hadn't been for the constant banging, pattering and rumbling noises which began since early morning, eventually waking them both up...

So after the two rudely awoken faeries took in their surroundings, it didn't take the two too long to finally take notice of each other as they rose up at right about the same time, looking at each other in disbelief.

"Kirito-kun?!"

"Asuna..."

Both of them had glazed looks adorning their faces while gazing at each other's now younger silhouettes which suggested that the effects of Kirito's illusion magic had already faded.

Neither of them knew what to think let alone what to even say to express their feelings in such a situation, so instinctively they chose to do whatever came the most natural to them; drawing near in just a matter of milliseconds, embracing each other while repeatedly calling for each other's names, over and over...

'"Asuna!"'

'"Kirito-kun!"'

Soon, much to the displeasure of the male faery, Asuna tersely broke their loving embrace, and while staring at him with teary eyes, she initiated an embrace again to which he gladly responded positively to as he reciprocated with a tight hug but this time, without even a hint of warning, she stood up on her tiptoes and stuck her lips to his...

Initially she had hoped by just tasting his lips, it would be enough to sate her, but even when confronted with the evidence right in front of her that Kirito was still alive, while feeling that her Kirito-kun was alive and well with every passing second of their wet kiss, she still felt the need to gain further evidence so as to make sure once and for all that she was not hallucinating, that Kirito really was with her; so as the stimulation she was feeling climbed along with her burning desire to take it a level further, she lost it as she, with glazed eyes and a familiar feminine voice which Kirito found extremely irresistible, ordered her lover before deepening the kiss,

"Kirito-kun! Now! Take me!"

After hearing the wanton female issuing such an 'urgent' command, he would be a jerk to not assure his 'Faery Lady' that the command was well-received and will be executed immediately, so while they were still kissing, he firmly held onto Asuna's perky ass-cheek with his right hand, slightly lifting her up, lessening the burden on her toes which apparently was quite well-received by the female High-Sylph Faery if her increasingly high sensual moans and thrusting of her hips were of any indication.

At the same time, with his left hand he unzipped his pants, then lifted up Asuna's red skirt, slowly sliding Asuna's white panties down while still kissing the horny girl like no tomorrow, making her wet her panties with her 'love-juice' in anticipation...

The stimulation which she was currently receiving was far greater than she had originally anticipated, so as a consequence, she couldn't help herself from cumming a little as Kirito inserted his tounge inside her mouth forcefully, exploring every nook and cranny of her oral cavity while at the same time teasing her important place with his hard member which resulted in her moaning becoming increasingly sexual, to the delight of her partner as he increased his pace on rubbing on her pussy which she eventually responded by spreading her pussy lips with her fingers, as if to say that she was ready...

Recieving the 'ok' message and without 'walking around the bush', he inserted his hard penis inside of her wet pussy, surprising the girl momentarily, making her break away from the kiss as she didn't actually expect to feel any pain.

Seeing this, Kirito obviously became worried as well — stopping his advance — he also felt that she was much tighter then usual, as if her vagina walls were trying everything that they could to resist him... This only happened when they both gave their virginities to each other on that night...

As he was about to ask her if she was alright, a blushing Asuna just looked at him in embarrassment while screaming,

"Come on! Make love to me! Make me a mess!"

"But..." Even though Asuna had just used the words her Kirito-kun found irresistible, he still was unsure whether to go on as he didn't want her to be in pain, even when he was as horny as he was now... But all of his worries were 'put on hold until further notice' when he heard the 'magic' words being uttered wantonly from his lover's mouth,

"Impregnate me!"

In their one year of active sexual life before they had learned of Kirito's cancer, Asuna actually wanted to find out what made her Kirito-kun even more aroused while having sex, eventually she figured out that he almost always lost control whenever she demanded for him to impregnate her...

Although they stopped doing those kinds of plays since they had lost Yui-chan, she somehow felt that now could be a fine time that they restarted doing it again... Besides, she enjoyed it as well, also seeing Kirito's wild side had become a rarity amongst rarities these days so...

So after hearing the command, a 'serious' Kirito went back to his task, this time with more vigor and lust as he urgently slided his penis in and out of her unusually tight pussy, wanting to quickly cum in her irresponsibly...

Asuna actually founded it really cute, to think that her Kirito-kun could make such faces before they had met back in Aincrad... She definitely was going to tease him after this...

With every sensual moan she let out, Kirito found himself more and more motivated to finally go for the kill as he felt his member hardening more than ever... So he started pushing it even deeper inside her as he lost himself in their ongoing deep kiss all the while rubbing her undeveloped breasts which he had to admit, had it's own unique charms...

After a few minutes of his repetitive ministrations, Kirito, for better access, held both of Asuna's stocking clad legs in wonder which she tentatively took it as an invitation for a leg lock missionary sex which she then happily 'obliged'.

Kirito then held her against the massive gate as he continued pumping into her, this time much deeper, to the point of even knocking on her 'door' making Asuna moan in ecstasy as she was steadily reaching her climax.

"A-suna! I'm about to c-cum!"

"Meee too! A-a-about to cum!"

"Asuna!"

"Kir-to, inshide mee!" An orgasming Asuna managed to spit out, struggling to correctly pronounce her words as she reached her climax, not long after, she felt Kirito's penis twitch inside her and the familiar feeling of being filled encapsulated her very being as her insides were now full with her lover's warm baby batter to which she responded with a deep kiss, as if to thank him...

After releasing his final load inside her, Kirito, along with Asuna slowly slid down to the ground, breathless after a satisfying 'mating session' as Kirito's now softening member came out with a 'plop' from inside of her, along with their sexual fluids, slowly dripping from her pussy as a further proof of their previous act of coupling as lovers...

When she felt how Kirito was hanging onto her, far more exhausted than herself, she repositioned herself along with Kirito, putting his head onto her lap while whispering sweet nothings to her strong but currently weak lover who soon went to sleep.

Yes, her Kirito-kun survived and came back to her, like he always did and always will... Nothing will ever change that... Not even death, whether it be in a virtual world or a real world,

"We will always be together, Kirito-kun..." Asuna whispered to her sleeping lover as she gently massaged his scalp, feeling his smooth hair on her hands, not noticing a familiar ball of purple light sneakily entering her belly as she too closed her eyes, giving herself to Morpheus...

* * *

While all this was happening, a certain Divine Tree who was busy expending most of her focus and energy on trying to repair the damages found herself having second thoughts about keeping an eye on those two 'rogue' faeries... Maybe she should just let them be...

* * *


	8. Arbor Sanctus - Part-1

"Sakuya-nee! We've spotted some locals heading this way, probably to scout the area, should we intercept them?" Leafa, also known as Sugu in her previous world, as second in command of Sylphs, anxiously asked her superior, The Fairy Lord Sakuya-sama as she landed on the terrace at the Sylph Headquarters of Alne to give report.

"Tsch... How many?" A frowning woman sitting at her desk asked with a grave voice as she let go of her pen and faced away from the documents which she had been going through religiously for the past hour to face the second Sylph in the room who was now in front of her.

For a female Sylph, Lady Sakuya had a curvy, slightly plump figure, with glossy, dark green hair so dark that it was nearly black, hanging down her back. She had white skin, almond eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. 'A beauty indeed, just like a finely honed blade' as Leafa would say to herself if this had been a better time...

Sakuya was wearing her trademark Japanese-style clothing and a katana that hangs from her obi. Her feet clad in high crimson clogs peek out from beneath the hem of her leaf green kimono as she was sitting legs crossed, awaiting a reply from her blond second-in-command.

Leafa quickly replied, "according to Shin-ch — (cough) — Sinon, there are twenty of them, most of them wearing similar black robes..."

Though Leafa may look like she was worried about the intelligence she had just reported to her superior, Lady Sakuya obviously had a very good idea about what was really making her this anxious, yet she chose to ignore it for the time being.

"Were they armed?"

Leafa shook her head as she replied,

"Not from what we've seen."

"Hmm, all magicians then? And twenty... It doesn't seem to be an efficient way to scout... And they're even openly walking without even... Are they that confident of themselves, walking so brazenly at the unknown? Or are they just idiots?" Lady Sakuya thought out loud but then, as she finished her sentence, a terrible scenario went on inside her head as she unconsciously gave it life through her following words,

"No! maybe they were the ones that brought us here and by coming here, they will... Masaka... Or not? Hmmm..."

"Anoo, Sakuya-nee?" The timid blond Sylph clad in her usual green clothes asked, her face grimaced despite her efforts to smile as she was not willing to wait a second more.

"What is it?" The Faery Lord asked even though she had a not so vague idea about what will come next.

"I was wondering, did you perhaps find any lead as to where onii-chan could be yet?"

* * *

It's been slightly more than ten hours since the shocking announcement which came in the form of a screen alert to all players, stating that they were now in a different world where only some part of Alfheim was transported... That only the city of Alne survived and all the online players besides the ones inside Alne and Aincrad have been teleported to the City Hall. The message stressed on being careful about the locals as they were not that far and much more numerous than them. Lastly it stated that the next message will be sent by the time the gaming mechanics have been fixed to it's original state.

They didn't believe it at first, thinking it as some kind of a major event, but as time went by, more and more of the players thought that they were now the victims of a new SAO incident as they couldn't even open up the menu let alone exiting the game.

But eventually, after the players themselves noticed the amount of detail in this 'game' which was obviously much more than it should normally be, they further fell into panic, some even outright denied that everything happening around them was in any way real. But thankfully, after the Faery Leaders' shared speech of hope and patience, many had no choice but to suck it up and accept this as reality.

Unfortunately, there were some players who couldn't take it and even hurt themselves, even going as far as to trying to kill themselves to 'wake up' from such a nightmare as they had their cherished loved ones waiting for them 'on the other side' to wake up. Thankfully they were saved by a couple of healers nearby who managed to heal them before it was too late, and so for their protection, they have been kept under a sleep magic ever since...

To calm the players, Lady Sakuya later had an epiphany. She came up with the useful idea of making it so that music will never stop all around Alne which would make the atmosphere of the city a little bit more livelier, and thanks to some hard-working and brave Pooka faeries, it was a success. She really was proving her resourcefulness in these kind of situations.

Also, even though the Faery Lords of the Pookas and Imps were not here, thanks to Lady Sakuya's reputation and charisma, she was not only able to gain their trust and calm them down, but she was also able to show her dependability in such a crisis which would definitely not go unnoticed by the other players including the Faery Lords.

* * *

Sakuya slowly shook her head,

"Unfortunately, we still couldn't find him."

"What about the World Tree? Have you managed to go there? Did Yggdrasil City really just, vanish?" The worried sister asked with unease,

"We have tried every magic that we could, even General Eugene of the Salamanders couldn't manage to put a dent on the barrier around the World Tree. It's just too strong. I even asked Alicia to lend us some of her finest dragons to bypass the barrier, but apparently the dragon tamers really struggled in controlling even the weakest among them monsters as they all refused to listen to them." She finished her sentence with a tired sigh, but she then added her last one,

"And as for Yggdrasil City, we have confirmed that, just like the alert panel had said, it is not there anymore. So, Leafa, even if we did manage to bypass that barrier, there is only a very slim chance that your brother will be there..."

Leafa rudely interjected, her voice shaking, tears forming in her eyes...

"How? Just how can you be so indifferent? Aren't you worried about onii-chan at all? Even though you had spent even more time with him these last few months than I had spent with him for the past year?! Don't you get it Sakuya? He could have had a second chance! If onii-chan is not here, then that means he will die on that bed! You've seen him, his real body... How can you say it as if... You know what? I was wrong about you, apparently, it's not your problem! Since all this happened, I have been with you the most, yet I didn't see you being sad or frustrated even once! It's like you don't even care one bit that we probably won't ever return to our World! Nor do you care that onii-chan is not with us! Maybe you're even happy? Happy to finally escape from your oh so stressful job? To escape from that 'hellhole' you called as 'real life'? I clearly saw how you looked while giving your speech. You really were like y..."

Slap!

Lady Sakuya coldly cut her in midsentence, seething at her in rage. Leafa flinched, it was the first time for her to see her this outraged.

"You better not finish that sentence, Suguha! I know I may have been a bit cold, but right now we are facing a huge crisis. I can not bear all the burden all by myself! Although we have managed to calm the masses for the time being thanks to the cooperation of all the faction leaders, it probably will not last for long if further progress is not made soon! You! You, as my most trusted second-in-command! I need you to be watching my back, with your head held high," She then went on her speech, this time exasperated.

"You are not the only one worried about Kirry-kun, I also consider him as my precious brother for goodness sake Leafa! Haven't I treated the both of you as the little-sister and the little-brother that I've never had?!"

Leafa avoided her superior's gaze as she reflected on what an idiot she had been in her emotionally weak state... And she was even about to say some more awful things to her sister in everything but blood...

It was true. Sakuya-nee was there for her even when Sugu learned of her brother's cancer. She even managed to 'convince' her onii-chan to give her their address, visiting her in real life to console her, even to the point of coming to her house and cooking meals for her...

Between her life as a carrier woman and as a hard-core gamer, Sakuya-nee somehow managed to find the time to hang out with her, a 'muscle for brains kendo girl with a 'huge' brother complex'. She was even the only one that Suguha admitted to having a 'crush' on his brother to...

"I'm really sorry..." Leafa said, deeply regretting her previous outburst with her now red ears tilting down as her crying intensified.

Lady Sakuya who stood just a few paces away from her, couldn't take the scene of seeing her 'sister' crying in front of her anymore so, she let out a sad sigh all the while holding her arms open, waiting for the Sylph in question...

"Saa, will you keep your onee-san waiting like this?" She asked with a mock hurt, seeing Leafa hesitating...

'Onee-san' was what Sakuya liked to be called by Suguha not just in real life, but also in ALO as well but no matter what she did, Leafa just wouldn't call her onee-san inside the game...

But this time, before calling her "onee-san!" and running into her sister's arms, Leafa just momentarily gazed at Sakuya's face, even though she was not looking sad or crying, Leafa could now tell... Just how stupid she had been... Both with Sakuya-nee and onii-chan! How could she not see this before? Was she so blinded by her 'feelings'? It was there! So obvious! Yet so elusive...

From that moment on, Kirigaya Suguha, now as Leafa, will not let either her onii-chan nor Sakuya-nee feel alone because of her own selfishness!

* * *


End file.
